The Links Thread

hurleronditch

I called the pro shop at the dot of 7, no engagement there at all, he doesn’t handle bookings. It will all be done on the basis of emails that have been sent once the reservations team get in to run through them all.

mighty magpie

Only 2 spots left across both days. Either a few got booked through BRS this morning or they've began to process emails.

Looks like i'll be missing out.

PARlance

Looks like €100 was too "cheap"

DuckSlice

Playing Portstewart today! Can not wait

willabur

etxp wrote: »

Playing Portstewart today! Can not wait

first tee is a beaut

hurleronditch

All the slots gone now, I certainly didn’t get a reply to my email, would be interested to see if anyone got in that route. I genuinely must have tried over 100 times between last night and today (my MacBook could autofill the form so it wasn’t as bad as it sounds) but never got close to it.

I wouldn’t hold my breath that they’ll do a third day to compensate those feeling begrudged

slave1

Kiith wrote: »

27 holes in Carne tomorrow! Can't wait

Well, how did you get on, with your length be interesting to see how you held fairways?

slave1

willabur wrote: »

first tee is a beaut

Second even better, a course that peaks early, that second hole is a dream for anyone that draws the ball.
Course with a very bland finish though.

IAmTitleist

Went on once last night to book Portmarnock...got on first time of asking! I see now i was in the minority

willabur

slave1 wrote: »

Second even better, a course that peaks early, that second hole is a dream for anyone that draws the ball.
Course with a very bland finish though.

Its true, I have a very clear recollection of the first 4 or 5 holes. After that I would struggle to tell you anything about the course.

When I played it, it was my first time playing golf in about 3 years. I got invited by a work colleague along to a golf trip with his buddies. I have a herniated disc in my back so gave up the game completely (forever I thought). So for the first tee shot in a couple of years to be that tee shot, I'll not forget it. I managed to hit a decent one, christ it was beautiful in the air. Just ran through the fairway where it dog legs right, into the short rough

mighty magpie

Rang portmarknock and got sorted there with a time for the 2nd date.
Seems as if some went free, maybe unpaid after last night or double bookings.

mike12

We got booked as well but it was messy

slave1

I think Portmarnock are doing this for obvious financial reasons, not for the greater good of Irish golf.

I hope that when things revert back to normal they do the decent thing and repeat this when times are good.
Be a shame otherwise and a poor reflection on them.

mighty magpie

Email sent noting a 3rd date added - 19th of October.

Seems as if anyone who emailled will have advanced booking privledges.

willabur

slave1 wrote: »

I think Portmarnock are doing this for obvious financial reasons, not for the greater good of Irish golf.

I hope that when things revert back to normal they do the decent thing and repeat this when times are good.
Be a shame otherwise and a poor reflection on them.

I highly doubt they would give a damn. I would say they see this as a painful but necessary action to get some sort of cash flow going into the club. Once they have the yankee dollar back then it will be back to the good ol days

BigChap1759

Jim Stynes wrote: »

Getting onto Portrush with a member for £20 is a great deal. Paying £100 for a golf course and thinking it’s a great deal because it’s usually £400 tells it’s own story about some of these places. It’s better value than normal but hardly a great deal.

Might be great value but not an open offer and so a meaningless comparison :rolleyes:

It’s a lot a money but I’m happy to pay it to tick off one of the top courses which has traditionally been crazy money to get on

Jim Stynes

BigChap1759 wrote: »

Might be great value but not an open offer and so a meaningless comparison :rolleyes:

It’s a lot a money but I’m happy to pay it to tick off one of the top courses which has traditionally been crazy money to get on

Yes it’s a bad comparison. My point was that it’s not the great deal people are going mad about. It’s still £100 green fees with a burger thrown in. I had paid £80 for opens before because it’s a chance of playing an expensive course at a discounted rate. But it’s still a lot of money so I didn’t think I got a great deal. A lot of these places are ridiculously snobby that they wouldn’t want normal working men through the door any other time but now they need the money!

rossyd2005

Hi lads, i am playing a team event at 10.50 on the 17th in Baltray. One player has pulled out and we need a fourth. Do any of you links fanatics want to join us? Send me a pm if you are available or better again,available and know Baltray at all as none of us have played it. Its 60 euro incl. 10 euro food voucher.

mike12

Think it's all over blown, the links courses in Dublin are full of members because they are in very populated areas.
They allow members to bring guests so it's not like they are empty and people can't play them.
If they were like the elite courses in the USA we would never see over the 12 foot wall surrounding the course.
There is no green fee to pay and no way to get in.
We are probably the only country in the world where u can ring a course and pay a green fee on every course on the island almost any day of the week.

No one is forcing anyone to pay any amount of cash to play but obviously there were enough people who thought Portmarnock at 100 was good value.

I reckon there are very few members of the top links courses who are rushing to play the Wednesday open at your course.

ShivasIrons

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Honestly Shivas - we have gone over this about 100 times at this stage.

25 euro does enable you to enjoy opens and GUI rates at 98% of clubs in the country .

There are a number of clubs that do not offer this - yet their members choose to enjoy the benefits in the other 98 % of clubs.

I would prefer myself , if these 2 % of clubs were excluded from the GUI or at least excluded from Opens or from a GUI rate in other clubs.

If we can even ignore the GUI factor for a second. If someone is offering you a welcome, an invitation , hospitality . It is just good manners , common decency
to offer the same in return.

And I'll explain it to you again, every single member club of the GUI gives their course to the GUI for free, do you understand this?


What you want is to be able to play any course, when you want, at a price that you want to decide.



If one of them had an open competition on the third Monday in January from 3-3:30, would you be happy? They are fulfilling the need to have an open competition then.

hurleronditch

ShivasIrons wrote: »

And I'll explain it to you again, every single member club of the GUI gives their course to the GUI for free, do you understand this?


What you want is to be able to play any course, when you want, at a price that you want to decide.



If one of them had an open competition on the third Monday in January from 3-3:30, would you be happy? They are fulfilling the need to have an open competition then.

I think there’s a middle ground though. I don’t expect to be able to play anywhere, any time at a any price, that’s nonsense, but I think obliging all clubs to make a moderate amount of availability for other GUI members is not unreasonable.

Minimum 3 days a year, 5 hours of tee times, price must be no more than half of your normal green fee, or €20, whichever is higher.

Portmarnock are doing it this week, and it is genuinely appreciated by those playing. €100 isn’t cheap, but it’s the most affordable way I’ve ever seen of playing there and if it weren’t for this open or a fluke work invite I might pick up I don’t know how I’d get out there without paying the bones of 300 snots

FixdePitchmark

hurleronditch wrote: »

I think there’s a middle ground though. I don’t expect to be able to play anywhere, any time at a any price, that’s nonsense, but I think obliging all clubs to make a moderate amount of availability for other GUI members is not unreasonable.

Minimum 3 days a year, 5 hours of tee times, price must be no more than half of your normal green fee, or €20, whichever is higher.

Portmarnock are doing it this week, and it is genuinely appreciated by those playing. €100 isn’t cheap, but it’s the most affordable way I’ve ever seen of playing there and if it weren’t for this open or a fluke work invite I might pick up I don’t know how I’d get out there without paying the bones of 300 snots

This post is spot on.

DuckSlice

Apologies in advance for the long post.

Back from my trip up North late last night.

Day 1: Played Lough Erne Faldo course. A lovely course I have to say has a bit of everything in it. started off well with a birdie to only top my 3 wood off the next tee trying to make sure I was in play and didn't go long. that was the last time I tried the safe play off the tee. Ended up with 36 points. We took buggies as we were walking the next two days but this was probably a mistake as we weren't allowed off the buggy paths and on to the fairway with the buggy and on a course you don't know you end up having to bring 3 or 4 clubs with you everytime. One of the 4ball got a hole in 1 on the 15th so that was cool. (i know this isn't links but said i would pop it in here anyway)

Verdict: good course, some lovely holes. I would play it again, but think i would take Kileen castle over it.

Day 2: Portrush (Open Day) We arrived early about 90 minutes before our tee time, we didn't want anything about this place to be rushed so we had a quick look around the shop. Has a decent selection of gear, I was after a hat but there hats weren't great, kind of old fashioned. We were getting 10% off so bought a couple of small things. Out to the range and hit about 30 balls, hitting it well so said i will leave while I'm ahead. Bit of chipping, chipping green i was on was poor, and not very like the greens on the course. i think there was a couple over to the right of the first green that looked better.
Upstairs then for the breakfast, a nice sausage and bacon roll and a cup of coffee. Decent breakfast. Onto the putting green for some putting then. This green was perfect, was very close to the speeds on the course and was just as pure.
Trackman was set up in a room beside the first tee so we went in and hit a few drives. (nice to see the swing speed was the same as the trackman i was on a few weeks back). Got the goodie bag, the starter gave us the run down and took some photos for us and away we go. None of us OOB. Goodie bag - Short Tees, long tees, Open course planner - unreal detail in this compared to the one in the shop, Bag Tag, bottle of water and a mars bar.

I had walked this course for The Open and it was every bit as good as it looked then. The condition of the fairways and greens were unreal. Greens run so pure, no bobbles or bumps. The course has a bit of everything some dunes, flat holes, blind holes, short holes that you could potentially drive with the right shot. It was a great experience. Favourite hole i think is the 5th, closely followed by the new 7th. Would love another crack at calamity as i made a balls of it. I think i enjoyed it more as i had known my way around from being at the open last year.

Finished with 36 points in the open comp, which wasn't great as we had 23 at the turn but we lost the run of ourselves. Our second Pair had 39 and finished 7th. I had 32 points on my own card which i was happy with. 47 points won it. a 12 and a 20 handicapper. 20 handicapper had the round of his life i would say, 44 points on his own card.

When we were playing the par 3 13th. One of the guys hits this lovely PW. Same guy who had the hole in one in lough Erne. It lands on the green and starts rolling out, tracking towards the hole, getting closer and closer, goes just behing the pin and we lose sight of it. We go mental we are all sure its in the hole and he has got a second one of the trip, we finish celebrating to look up and see 2 guys on the 17th green waving their hands to say its not in. haha. it was still very exciting though and we didn't really celebrate the first hole in one as we couldn't see it go in the hole.

We had a birdie pot going for the 2 days, everytime there was a birdie, €10 was put in the pot (2.50 each), it was at 80 euro on the last, the last man to birdie takes the pot. 3 of us needed to chip in. I was pin high to the left of the green. i had the 60 in my hand and thought to myself i need to get this rolling, it was a straight once it hit the green. I changed to the 9 iron, a little chip and run. it bumped into the bank , a hop on the fringe and its rolling to the pin, dead on line, i run up on the green my hands are in the air, I'm thinking i have this!!! only for it to rattle the pin and hop out to a foot. Was a very exciting finish to a great round.

Verdict: Best links i have ever played. would play it again in a heartbeat. it has everything.

Day 3: Portstewart - Now we were meant to play Castlerock on this day. We were eating our grub in Portrush clubhouse and got asked by a gentlemen if we were the gang from Dublin he was meeting. we said no sorry wrong group. Then he tells us he is meant to be bringing them out in Portstewart tomorrow but cant find them. One of the lads was quick on the ball and said if ya cant find them come back to us as a joke and he went away. Anyway 30 minutes later as we are finishing up he lands back and says "you are in luck boys". One of the lads had to leave that night so this left us with 3 and he would play with us. he said see you there for 12 tee time in the morning! Couldn't believe our luck.

We tried to cancel Castlerock but they wouldn't refund us but we didn't care we weren't missing this opportunity to get out with a Member as his guests. This guy was a true Gent, he had so many stories of courses he has played, people he has met. He was a joy to listen to. Its a round that will stick with me for a long time.

The course. What a tee shot on the first, it must be the best first tee **** in Ireland, if not the world. The view is unreal. we all got our drives away and off we went. This man could also play golf he was off 9 and was very handy. Portstewart is a different beast in its own right compared to Portrush, the rough is more forgiving but the terrain is tougher. The first 9 is practically all in the dunes and are the better 9. the golf was only ok for me on this day but was still enjoying the golf and the chats. Managed to hit probably my longest drive ever on the index 1 - 329 yards, from a massive height and a 3 club tail wind.

The wind was much tougher today and always seemed to be coming across us except for a couple of holes that it was behind. The greens were very good, but maybe not as fast as Portrush. the back nine are a good bit flatter than the front nine bar a couple of holes, and a few raised greens.

We had a matchplay to have a bit of competition. The member took our high handicapper (18) against the other 2 of us. We got hammered 7&6. and had to cover the dinner. Food was very good in the clubhouse, much better than Portrush I thought. Had the chats after the grub before we hit the road back west. What a day.

Verdict: another great course, very impressive front nine, not sure where i would rank this in the course I have played but its probably 2nd or 3rd. I do love Carne but the condition of this was far better than Carne.

It was a really enjoyable few days. Great golf (at times) and great company.

slave1

Sounds great.
I agree with you, Portrush is on a different planet to any other course I've played (I've yet to RCD), has everything, only Lahinch comes close to it

Ally McIntosh

For me, the BIG 5 are Portrush, RCD, Portmarnock, Lahinch and Ballybunion. To those, I would add Baltray which I think is criminally underrated.

I could argue these 6 in any order any day of the week but if I was pushed, I’d say Portrush was the best and Lahinch was my favourite.

Watch out though: The new course at Rosapenna / St.Patricks will make a serious attempt at usurping the top order.

slave1

Nice selection Andy, there is nothing wrong with Portmarnock, it has some sublime holes, to me the negative is it's a course that needs repeated playing to really appreciate it whereas Portrush/Lahinch get you from the first tee and repeated playing of Portmarnock is a big ask

carq

Ally McIntosh wrote: »

For me, the BIG 5 are Portrush, RCD, Portmarnock, Lahinch and Ballybunion. To those, I would add Baltray which I think is criminally underrated.

I could argue these 6 in any order any day of the week but if I was pushed, I’d say Portrush was the best and Lahinch was my favourite.

Watch out though: The new course at Rosapenna / St.Patricks will make a serious attempt at usurping the top order.

Second cut could seriously put it up to them

Carne , Rosapenna, Narin , Ballyliffen , Murvagh , Enniscrone ,

Scott Tenorman

Can anybody post up a quick hole-by-hole guide to playing Arklow?

Playing there at the weekend.

slave1

Scott Tenorman wrote: »

Can anybody post up a quick hole-by-hole guide to playing Arklow?

Playing there at the weekend.

Quick search reveals this recent thread

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=114081471

mjsc1970

carq wrote: »

Second cut could seriously put it up to them

Carne , Rosapenna, Narin , Ballyliffen , Murvagh , Enniscrone ,

Nobody mentioning The Island...........